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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Sometimes when I am taking these images I imagine the photos to be paintings, so I am playing with composition in the images as well as the piece...here are a few images I took today of some of my new work..

you can hopefully see the play on composition and lighting that I utilize to make the images approach something other than just documenting the metals piece...

I feel like these images are as important as the piece, and may become a larger player in my artwork as I develop the image vocabularies...each of these pieces are almost becoming characters in a play- in a similar way to how Giorgio Morandi would play with the still life compositions and bottle figures that he was so masterful at composing and infusing with life ...

Monday, June 22, 2009

have I ever mentioned that we live next door to a couple who are entomologists? I adore the shapes and colors that nature brings us with the insect world..years ago I did a series of torch fired enamel bug pins that I think I may revisit.....

In the past week I have made 6 loaves of zucchini bread......This pic shows 1/4 of the crop so far..(from 3 plants!)I think we got the soil amended properly this year, because out tomatoes are yielding a bumper crop as well...If only I could plant a chocolate tree......then my garden would be complete!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

an image of the sad state of many walls in the historic center of Florence Italy... The problem with graffiti in Florence (Firenze) has been on the increase over the past 5 years-

I am fortunate enough to travel there on a yearly basis, and have even spent 3 years (97-2000) living there full time.( My husband is from Settignano Italy, a village in the hills just outside of Firenze proper)While we lived there, we stayed in a building in the San Frediano area of the historic city proper.

I can say, that in the past 3 years I have really noticed a huge increase in tagging...and here I must make a distinction between tagging and graffiti...Tagging , to me , is similar to when a dog lifts it's leg to mark it's territory. Graffiti, while usually still illegal can also be an artful and creative expression (when well done) . Tags are indiscriminate scrawls, graffiti , when well done can even enhance or inspire.

Unfortunately In Florence, I have even have seen tags on the Duomo and other Masterpiece churches as well, such as Santo Spirito, in "my" neighborhood. No, I'm not at all religious, but I appreciate the masterful architecture on these amazing historic buildings.

Usually, (with Florence at least) the government makes a big show of concern about these things, then sits on it's hands and does nothing. (this was the case while we lived there and belonged to an initiative to enforce controls on traffic in the historic city....many meetings, a few appearances from "il Sindaco" -the Mayor...but nothing realized except a pretty, wider sidewalk on a section of our busy street...and that took 8 years to come to fruition!

I realize now that I have a voice that can be heard about this problem, and will be tweeting/posting images/blogging on a regular basis about this, to bring to light this rape of one of the world's Historic treasures.

Monday, June 15, 2009

here is a detail image of the torch fired disc enamel earrings that I completed today and will soon be posting to my shop. It's interesting to me that I have found ways to incorporate my painting and color into my metalsmithing, considering that I started out my art career as a painter!

Why did I switch from painting to metals? well, I always had a tendency towards painting in 3 dimensions- I used to create styrofoam armatures and connect them together with paint , so they would end up being relief sculptures with richly painted surfaces..Essentially, I was making wall Jewelry..LOL

That was in the 80's, when everyone was painting BIgger, Bigger, Bigger...(and all I wanted to do was paint smaller and smaller...)So, I resisted the push for painting and started concentrating on what made me the happiest at the end of the day, Metals.

I found that I could translate my ideas on painting and sculpture into metals, with various methods of adding color, texture and structure...I love how metals has such a deep vocabulary of techniques, and each diverse method effects my compositions in different ways.

I also love that my work becomes a part of the wearer's life in ways that a painting usually cannot. in effect, I feel like each day that someone wears one of my pieces outside of their home, my work becomes miniature pieces of public art....

Sunday, June 14, 2009

I've been experimenting with my new Hydraulic press and dies..one of the things that I always work with in my metalwork is color, so I've dusted off my old box of enamels and started incorporating torch fired enamels in my work as well. I love watching the glass sand shimmer and shine as it heats to melting temperature. you know< I think maybe getting into torch fired enamels during SUMMER in Tucson Arizona might be a little crazy..but I must say, it sure gives me a good excuse to run through the sprinklers after working for a few hours!